Occupy Cincinnati supporters angry over publication of home and email addresses

Leslie Ghiz has angered some Occupy Cincinnati supporters by posting on her Facebook page the home and email address of one individual and the email address of another who criticized her for pressuring City Manager Milton Dohoney to kick the protesters out of the park. The two individuals wrote to Ghiz's campaign, according to Ghiz.

After two days of testimony, the criminal trespassing trial of some Occupy Cincinnati protestors has been continued until Jan. 30 while attorneys on both sides continue to negotiate a possible resolution.

Meanwhile, the Occupy Cincinnati group isn't resting; it will stage an event called “Recharge Weekend” on Saturday and Sunday, designed to boost the morale of participants and devise a more precise, clear agenda for moving forward.

Despite the economic troubles affecting the state, Ohioans are smoking more than ever, according to a study that found the highest percentage point increase of any state. An official with the Ohio Department of Health attributes the increase to the stress people are under, though the Ohio General Assembly also cut funding to the state's smoking cessation help line, so there's that. Ohio ranked as the 36th healthiest state in 2011, down from 33 rd in 2010, while Indiana came in at 38th and Kentucky 43rd.

Occupy D.C. protesters built some type of structure in a park Saturday night, and police on Sunday notified them that they didn't have a permit and took it down, arresting dozens in the process. It was a pretty nice structure, though.

Occupy leaders don't mention coincidence, focus on next steps

More than 20 Occupy Cincinnati protesters were arrested last night just hours before a morning parade was scheduled to celebrate the life of local billionaire Carl Lindner, who died on Monday. The Enquirer's homepage this morning includes a lengthy account of the arrests and reactions by Occupy, along with a live feed covering the parade, which was to begin at Great American Ball Park and end near a Kenwood restaurant where Lindner enjoyed eating.

Lindner supporters gathered at various locations along the parade route, including dozens of Cincinnati Police standing outside District 1 around 9 a.m. Students stood outside a school on 9th Street singing songs about going to heaven. (Occupy Cincinnati representatives have not acknowledged the correlation.)

"This case is not about the whether you agree with the political views of Occupy Cincinnati or Occupy Wall Street; it's about the right of the people to assemble in a public park and to engage in protected speech."

Considering the councilwoman's not-so-lawyerly ways

We reported here yesterday that City Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz posted personal information on Facebook about two citizens who had emailed criticism about her pressuring of City Manager Milton Dohoney to remove the Occupy Cincinnati protesters. The news quickly spread on Twitter (which you can follow in our live aggregator below), and Ghiz removed the posts shortly thereafter.

The incident might not seem like the hugest deal — largely a petty socio-political discussion on a conservative's personal Facebook page among a bunch of likeminded people. But the publication of the home and email address of a citizen who opposes an elected official crosses a major ethical line.

We purposely didn't publish screen shots of the posts due to the private information involved. It would have been relevant only in demonstrating the pettiness with which Ghiz offered the critics' opinions to her collection of angry friends. “These are some of the lovely emails my campaign has been getting because I believe the law should be applied evenly and equally to everyone,” the first introduction reads. How does she expect people to react to such sarcasm? “Oh dear, Leslie, I also care not for such a movement and its collection of anarchic rogues. Let me set down my tea cup and console you."

A new study has found high levels of arsenic in fruit juices that millions of kids are drinking because there's pictures of actual food on the label. Too bad government regulation is just a big waste of money that hurts the economy.

A full 10 percent of the juices tested by the magazine had arsenic levels higher than what is allowed in water by the Food and Drug Administration.

“What we’re talking about here is not acute affects,” Urvashi Rangan, director of safety and sustainability at Consumer Reports, told TODAY. “We’re talking about chronic effects. We’re talking about cancer risk. And so, the fact that 10 percent of our samples exceeded the drinking water standard underscores the need for a standard to be set in juices.”

Consumer Reports tested 88 samples of apple and grape juices sold around the country. Included among those tested were popular juices like Minute Maid, Welch’s and Tropicana.

Encampments, tents still banned during 1-year 'Open Period'

The city of Cincinnati
and Occupy protesters have reached a legal settlement that will erase
criminal charges against protesters and designate part of Piatt Park
a 24-hour public space for one year. The open space will still be
subject to park rules, which include the “prohibition
or restriction on noise, encampments, open flames, tents, and common
law nuisance principles.”

The Enquirer reported
today that the settlement was expected to be filed in court this morning. The settlement will end protesters’ federal lawsuit
against the city, which was based on the First Amendment right to
peaceably assemble. The far eastern section of the park, which is
where Occupy Cincinnati set up its encampment starting in October and
where many of the arrests occurred, will reportedly be designated a
12-hour public space for one year beginning 10 p.m. March 19.

Should the city refuse
to extend the Open Period, Occupy protesters are allowed to institute
a new lawsuit challenging the park rules.

The city has agreed to
install new signage at the park noting its modified closing time and
will install signage or placards at least 14 days prior to the open
time’s scheduled expiration at 11:59 p.m. March
18, 2013.

The city retains the
right to terminate the Open Period should park rules not be followed.
According to the lawsuit:

Consistent
and persistent violations of Park Board Rules and/or generally
applicable laws which constitute a public nuisance under Chapter 3767
of the Ohio Revised Code, including without limitation any conduct in
violation of prohibitions or restrictions on noise, encampments, open
flames, or tents, shall constitute a breach of this Agreement. As a
remedy for such breach, the City may terminate the Open Period prior
to the expiration date set forth in Section 3 above by obtaining an
order from a court of competent jurisdiction enjoining any such
nuisance and finding that termination of the Open Period is necessary
to abate any such nuisance.

City Hall will appoint
an individual to function as the liaison of the Park Board and
schedule a public meeting within 60 days and another within 180 days
to accept public input.

Demonstrators filling downtown's Piatt Park on Garfield Place as part of the anti-corporate, Occupy Wall Street protests should take heart: The park's namesakes likely would support your actions.

In an excellent post on The Daily Bellwether blog, writer Bill Sloat looks at the history of the Piatt brothers, Donn and Abram, and the causes they held dear. Abram Piatt was a wealthy farmer and poet who served as a general for the Union Army during the Civil War. Donn Piatt was a staff officer for the Union Army.